"Harder" cartridge recomendation


After some time with EMT TSD15SPH, which is basically my first serious cart (along with it's EMT930 platform and 929 arm), I comeback to the question of finding something faster, "harder", more transparent perhaps but I do like "bigger sound". I'm mounting a second arm on 930: SME3012R and I'm looking for a fast cart in 1-1.2kEU range. Phono is a diy 834 with Tribute nano crystal SUT's.

I've been looking at SPU Royal N, but IIRC EMT somehow derives from the SPU family, so it may or may not be what I have in mind.

Any opinions? Thanks,
bydlo
bydlo

Showing 8 responses by lewm

I have been following this thread for a few days. My first reaction to your post, Bydlo, is that you are asking the wrong question. By starting with the EMT turntable, tonearm, and cartridge, you were bound to end up with their combined sonic signature on your music, for good or ill. (I make no judgement at all; I have never heard any of those products.) Then, by using the EAR 834 phono stage, you have stamped the sonics with the euphonic sweetness of that device. It is my second hand impression that the EMT stuff may also be a bit on the euphonic side. That may be the crux of your "problem". IMO, there is a good chance you will not get where you want to go, if you insist on the EAR 834 as your phono stage. At least I recommend try another more neutral phono stage (borrowed?) before you spend on a new cartridge. If a known more neutral phono stage does not help, then you can look farther back up the chain toward the cartridge/tonearm/turntable. Apparently you like vintage stuff. I do, too. Was there some reason you chose the SME 3012R as your second tonearm?
It would take a truly annoying cartridge to reverse the romantic slant of the other stuff in your signal chain is perhaps a simpler way of re-stating my thesis. The most neutral cartridges I have heard are the TOTL Transfiguration cartridges, the Temper, Orpheus, Phoenix. But those are very neutral, not "hard". Great products, IMO. You might get a Phoenix within your price range, used. Don't include the Glider in your shopping list; it's not in the same class with the others, IMO. On the MM side, you might find an Acutex to your liking, also very neutral.

By the way, this can go on forever. We pitch cartridges, and you hit them out of the park, along with the advice. But that's your privilege.
Nandric, Who said I can't dance? Baryshnikov?

I have been wondering how those few "in the know" would compare the other Holy Grail of no longer available cartridges, the Technics 100C MkIV, to the Mk7f. But that is OT, and I apologize for bringing it up.

Halcro, Top Class want ~$2000US for that Mk7f. More than most eBay prices. But if it's as good as you say, after the massage from Axel, then surely it is worth it when one considers the cost of any modern TOTL MC. On the other hand, you did infer that your true current favorites are MM types, which likely cost a lot less.
Nandric, "some LOMC's are better than whatever MM cart there are".

Would you let anyone else get away with such a permeable blanket statement? I think not. Anyway, in defense of Henry, I am sure he means that among cartridges he owns or has heard in his system, he prefers one or more MMs to any of the MCs. This does not rule out the proposition that there is a superior MC somewhere in the universe. In defense of myself, I never made any statement at all regarding the universal superiority of MM/MI cartridges (or if I did, I was insincere). Still, my question is: has anyone compared Technics 100C MkIV to FR Mk7f? I am sure Raul has done this comparison and would likely go for the Technics.

On a serious note, what is "Takeda's Miyabe Standard"? In the US, I do not recall that there is a Miyabe referred to as "Standard". You must have come upon it recently, since you were heretofore immersed in the MM world.
Can anyone direct me to the post by T_bone (Travis)? He and I were in direct email contact for a couple of years. Last year, he told me he was moving to Hong Kong from Tokyo. I was in touch with him during the moving process, and now he seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. For the past several months or maybe a year, I have had zero response from him, nor has he been posting either here or on Audio Asylum. If the post about 3012 + Mk7 is old, it probably would not help to find him. There is another guy who calls himself Tbone, without the underscore. On one or the other site, he used "Travisty".
Acman, AFAIK, "Travisty" does = "T_bone". They are the same guy, who lived in Tokyo and then moved to HK about a year ago. I believe he used "T_bone" on Audiogon and "Travisty" on AA.

What I intended to convey is that there is a second person who uses "Tbone" (no underscore in between T and bone), on AA or here. So far as I know, this is a different person entirely. Travis was cool and a great source of information on vintage direct-drive tt's. Plus, he had access to the only remaining Pioneer Exclusive P3, P3a, and P10 service center in the world, located in Tokyo. They still have parts to rebuild the suspensions, etc. Thankfully, my craziness has subsided enough that I am no longer hungry for one of those beasts. Four turntables seems to be enough for me. Gosh, I am a reasonable average shmo. Just ask my wife.
Raul prefers digital?
This is like finding out that God does not believe in God, which would bother me, if I believed in God.

I honestly don't think that "many" of us here prefer digital. There may be a closeted few who do, but not "many". For me digital is like Muzak, the old system of piping so-called music into elevators and department stores. It's decent background for when I am reading or entertaining non-audiophiles.

I confess, I too always thought that Halcro's room would sound a bit hard and "clinical". But it's his choice, to achieve his own concept of sonic Nirvana. Which is perfectly fine with me.
Nandric, I am equally guilty of this, but if you sold several of your tonearms and cartridges that are not in use and never will be in frequent use, I would wager that the resulting funds might pay for an Ortofon Anna. I know this is true in my case. However, I personally am suffering from a bad case of stylus drag from which I do not have the mental torque to recover.

Nice job on the logical dissection of my term, "blanket statement".